


A Cage

by allthewaytoerebor



Series: Tolkien Fic Week 2020 [1]
Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baby gay Eowyn, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Happy Ending, Love at First Sight, Tolkien Fic Week, TolkienFicWeek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthewaytoerebor/pseuds/allthewaytoerebor
Summary: The ocean is rumbling around her. It is dark, yet she feels secure - the stars are shining much brighter than they ever did in that awful cage. Physically it certainly wasn't a cage, but she had felt as trapped as any animal bound to rot in a cold, metal cage.
Relationships: Aragorn | Estel/Arwen Undómiel, Arwen Undómiel/Éowyn, Éowyn/Faramir (Son of Denethor II)
Series: Tolkien Fic Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757362
Comments: 10
Kudos: 12





	A Cage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [floatingplanet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatingplanet/gifts).



> This is my first time writing Eowyn/Arwen, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! It's also my first fic for Tolkien Fic Week! Hope you enjoy, esecially Kali, who invented gay rights <3

The ocean is rumbling around her. It is dark, yet she feels secure - the stars are shining much brighter than they ever did in that awful cage. Physically it certainly wasn't a cage, but she had felt as trapped as any animal bound to rot in a cold, metal cage.

There’s a sense of gratitude in her. Gratitude for the invinceable waves crashing against the rocks and grainy sand, the softness of the grass against her body, and the glistening moon above her. All of these things she holds so dear. All of these things she knew as a child, and took for granted as adolescence claimed her, but now, a smile of appreciation graces her face, for she has returned to this wondrous place with awe, and with happiness.  
But none of these things - the great moon or sea - will ever be as precious to her as the person lying beside her. 

Her wife turns her head from the starry sky to meet Eowyn’s eyes.  
“It would have taken all of the time in the world for me to realise what I have here, but then you came along, and life became beautiful again” Eowyn lazily confesses.  
Arwen smiles, she looks at Eowyn with that enchanting gaze, and Eowyn is sure, more sure than she has ever been of anything, that Arwen is the love of her life.

The first time she saw her it was autumn. The once evergreen leafs were rotting and turning to dust, as was her heart.

“Eowyn, we’re going to be late!” Faramir called from the hallway.

She took one last drag from her cigarette, threw it out the bathroom window, wiped her eyes and quickly brushed her teeth to get rid of the smell.

“Coming,” Eowyn rushed down the stairs.

“Are we ready to go, then?” Her boyfriend of two months asked, a smug smile on his slightly chapped lips. Eowyn mustered a smile as she accepted his arm.

The walk felt like it dragged on for eternity. The park stretched out for miles. They were going to meet Aragorn and his wife, Aragorn was a colleague of Faramir’s, a close friend for many years.

Looking around, Eowyn noticed people with looks of great content. Children playing with the fallen leafs, throwing them around, jumping into big piles of them. Parents sitting on benches, drinking coffee, talking about the struggle of not having had a haircut in a month. Old couples feeding the birds, walking slowly, smiling. 

Even the birds seemed happy.

Eowyn sighed. Why could she not just be happy? Why could she not just be in love? Faramir was a great guy. He was kind, and strong, and thoughtful, and gentle.  
But love didn’t work like that. She knew it didn’t, but sometimes she wished it would’ve been that easy.

Though she didn’t love Faramir, she could not leave him. She was afraid to. He was the sole stabilizer in her life, the only shelter in the thunderstorm of her mind. And he understood her, or at least he tried to. 

She was grateful for him. Faramir loved her fiercely, and such a gentle person as him didn’t deserve to have their heart broken. She had decided to stay with him as long as he was in love with her, as he gave her all the empathy she required.

“Eowyn, you ok?” A mellow voice to her left spoke. Of course, Faramir.  
Always Faramir.

“Yeah, just thinking…”

“You hardly do anything else though, do you?” Faramir snickered.

“Hey, don’t tease!” she playfully punched him in the arm. Her cheeks felt warm again, and her smile felt real. For a moment, she felt happy.

“Sorry, sorry,” he lifted his hands up in defeat. “At least it made you smile!”

“You got me there.”

They walked for a while longer, until Faramir pointed at someone in the distance.  
“There they are!” he spoke enthusiastically.

As they approached them, Eowyn recognised the man as Aragorn. There was another silhouette standing beside him, a woman with dark hair down to her hips, which were covered in bootcut jeans.

“Aragorn!” Faramir threw himself onto his friend.

The woman shifted her eyes towards Eowyn, and smiled. Eowyn’s mouth went ajar, and she could do nothing but utter an imperfect “Hi” as she was struck by the woman’s beauty.

“I’m Arwen, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” the stunning creature in front of her reached out her hand and giggled. Eowyn shook it, but did it as carefully as she could, for Arwen’s hands were so smooth, warm, and delicate.

Before she had the chance to reply, Aragorn gave her a careful hug.

“Eowyn, nice to see you again,” she forced herself to keep her eyes on him as he greeted her.

“This is my wife Arwen, though it looks like you already got the chance to greet each other.”

“Yes,” Arwen spoke, “and I can’t wait to learn everything about her,” she smiled at Eowyn once again, and it made her whole body stiffen.

“So...how did you and Faramir meet?” Arwen asked eagerly once their partners started chatting loudly on their own, and the two of them took a walk through the park.

“His family had known mine for a long time, and one day a few months ago his parents set up a date for us, I suppose they’d talked to my mother about it and found us to be a good match,” Eowyn explained, trying not to fumble over her words.

“I see,” Arwen looked at her, “and do you love him?”

She sounded confident as she uttered the question, looking quite clever. Eowyn was taken aback by the question. This woman, this unreasonably gorgeous woman, who she had just met moments ago, had seen through her, and asked her such a bold question. It felt as if her heart was bleeding out in Arwen’s hands, vulnerable and exposed. Her cheeks flushed.

“No. I don’t,” Eowyn was frank. For some reason, she felt an urge to be honest with her, to expose all her feelings and thoughts, put them in her hands. To trust her.

“An honest answer!”

“To a honest question,” she smirked, earning her a smirk back from Arwen  
.  
“But why did you ask?”

“Why not? I see in your eyes that there’s something in you, something holding you back. Caging you in.”

The conversation they had that day made Eowyn think. Indeed, there was a reason for her feeling so stuck and unhappy. She laid awake at night, having to leave the bed and Faramir sleeping on it. It was too warm and uncomfortable. Her blue coat was needed as it was October, she grabbed it before she headed out the door.

Eowyn walked through the park. It was desolated at this time of night. She sat down on a nearby bench, lit a cigarette, took a drag.

Her heart had started getting heavy after her father and uncle died. It was an accident, a car crash. Her mother had never been very loving, but after her husband passed, she had no energy left. She was cruel.

Eowyn missed her uncle. Though less careful, he was quite like Faramir. Caring and modest. She had always been close to him; going on fishing trips, and to his and her father’s seaside house, running along the beach with him, horseback riding on the beach with him.  
But he was gone now.

She had inherited the holiday home. It must be dusted there now, as she hadn’t been there after he passed. She had been too scared of the sharp memories that would linger there, of all the things that had now faded.

But now, as the image of it battered her, she felt an urge. What if that house, the sea, the beach, was where the answer to her happiness lay?

Months passed. Arwen and Eowyn grew closer, they became good friends. For every time they saw each other, Eowyn’s heart beated harder and steadier.  
When May came along, the idea of the seaside house seemed very tempting.

“Faramir, I was thinking...what if we go spend the weekend down at the old beach house my dad had?”

“Romantic! We’ll leave on Thursday and come back on Sunday, now that we have Friday off!”

“Maybe we could invite Aragorn and Arwen? I know Arwen is very fond of the sea.”  
“I’ll call Aragorn right away!”

The bottle of wine was emptied, and the fire was hungry. They had been sitting on the beach for hours. At around twelve, Aragorn and Faramir went to bed. Arwen and Eowyn had remained there, talking, drinking, listening to the sea and the fire, and now it was almost two.

“Remember when you asked me if I loved Faramir?” she said as quietly as possible, as if she didn’t want to disturb the sea.

“Yes.”

“I was wondering, I have been for a while, do you love Aragorn?”

Arwen looked away from Eowyn and took a deep breath in. “You really just went ahead and asked that,” she smiled.

“Yes, well, payback!” Eowyn laughed.

“It’s complicated. There was a time, when I was younger, I loved him very much. He proposed, and I was, well, naive and foolish, as one tends to be at 23. We got married. I think, over time, I came to realise that I didn’t love him anymore. But we don’t fight, and he’s a good man.” She looked back at Eowyn.

For a moment, the world seemed still. Arwen was sitting there, lit up by the fire, smiling, her eyes wide. Eowyn could feel her heart in her throat.

Without really thinking, she reached out and pushed Arwen’s hair behind her ear.

“I love your hair. I would like to braid it some time,” she spoke carefully.

Arwen beamed. “And you may. Is there any more wine?” she gestured towards the empty glasses.

“Yes, I’ll go get some more, and some logs for the fire!” Eowyn got up.

“Get hair ties while you’re at it!” Arwen yelled after her.

“Noted!”

As she made her way to the wine cabinet, she had to stop and lean against the wall. She exhaled hard, laughing to herself, shaking her head. This cannot be happening, This is too good to be true.

Eowyn got a bottle of red, a few more logs, and hair ties. She walked back out, seeing Arwen standing up as she came closer.

“There you are,” she grinned and looked unusually timid.

Eowyn flung the objects in her hands on the ground. Again, without thinking, just following her instinct, she crashed her lips against Arwen’s.

Arwen kissed her back. She pulled Eowyn closer by the hips, and oh god, her hands were so good, her lips were so perfect, and everything felt so right.

Eowyn has finally found happiness in its purest form. And to come, there are all the memories she has missed, with the love she has gained. Fishing, horseback riding, existing in harmony.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
